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In July of 1995, the news photographer Gray Banick disappeared into the Bosnian war zone and doing so took away pieces of the hearts of three people who loved him: Emil Todorovic, his interpreter and friend; Jack MacKenzie, his mentor who taught Gray to hold his camera steady between himself and the worst that war presents; and Lian Zhao, who didn’t have the strength to love him as he wanted her to. Now, almost five years later, they have gathered in Sarajevo to find out what happened to Gray, the man who had taught them all what love is.

Each driven character in this novel believes fully that there is a love strong enough to sustain them, even in the extreme circumstances of war. But each time they have uncovered a glimpse of such a thing, they have failed tragically love itself.

Or, to see it another way, this is a novel about how love fails us every timeor almost every time.

Review

Malott employs a matter-of-factness that emphasizes the horrific unlikelihood of his war stories. All the while, he pulls the reader from one story to the next, from one period and place to anotherfrom present-day Bosnia back to Kansas City, where Gray lived; from the search for Gray back to his days in the war.”Bookforum.com

Malott strips down the language and amps up the tension as he creates an indelible portrait of the shell shocked and dispossessed.”BOOKLIST

Compelling.”The Wichita Eagle

A sparely written and stark depiction of three people and a nation confronting the horrors of war The causes and consequences of a centuries-old conflict (for historical background, Ivo Andric’s novel Bridge on the Drina, is a classic work) are revealed through deft storytelling and main characters that transcend their ethnicities to become real people in all their complexity.”ALBANY TIMES UNION.COM

"A timely meditation on exile and illness, love and guilt, beautifully written I look eagerly forward to whatever he writes next."Scott Phillips, author of The Ice Harvest

This novel is about the coming together of 3 unrelated people to search for Gray Banick, a news photographer who disappeared 5 years earlier in the Bosnian war zone. Lian was his girlfriend - and also the reason he went to Bosnia; Emil was the interpreter he met while on assignment, and Jack was a fellow news photographer who was Gray's mentor.

These three people come together to try to search for Gray, or Gray's remains, as a way to put an end to that chapter in their lives. Emil is still trying to find Mira, his fiancee who was taken away by enemy soldiers - in his head he knows she is dead, but in his heart, he refuses to give up hope. Katja, his current girlfriend, isn't sure that he will ever be able to let Mira go.

Jack has given his whole life to surviving in war zones. Where his homecomings with his wife used to be exciting - they have become alienated over the years and she now feels as if he has deserted her. Most of the big events in their life he has learned of over the phone, half a world away. Jack realizes that Gray is a surrogate son to him, to replace the one that his wife had miscarried 30+ years before.

That leaves Lian. She was always sure that her and Gray would not be together, but not because she didn't love him - even though she couldn't put it into words. Her family was bound by Chinese values and traditions, and those were put on her shoulders to carry forward. For this reason, she found herself engaged and married to Daniel, a Chinese doctor who works with her father. She realizes that she has been a coward her whole life, and hopes that by coming to Bosnia she will be able to come clean with Daniel about her past, and move forward in her life, on her terms.

That is, at least, how I viewed these three people. I cannot say that I "enjoyed" this book - as the setting isn't something that someone would "enjoy". But I found that I could not put it down! The story was told between present interactions amongst Emil, Lian and Jack and flash backs on their relationships with Gray. While there isn't a lot of action, it moves forward steadily, hauntingly, through war-torn Sarajevo and the surrounding countryside. While the setting of the story is tragic, there is an underlying romantic element of never losing hope. I highly - highly! recommend this book. It is a great debut novel and I can't wait to see what else Mr. Malott has to bring us.

For some reason, this passage has stayed with me:

"I will take pictures of the truth. They will be ashamed of themselves." The man nodded. "But not until after my family is dead." "I come from a sleeping people," Gray said. "You are awake," the man said. "I must get back to my family." (p210)

This book read with such reality that I admit I went back and checked to make sure it was fiction. Well written, to the point that it felt so real to me, I entered into this emotionally charged book, unprepared for the emotions it would bring out in me.

The Evolution Of Shadows, while surrounding itself with the story of a war, is more about friendships than bombs. Sure there is the taste of war among the pages and you do feel this, but for me the war was within the three people that longed for answers; Lian, Emil, and Jack. Not sure if they are looking for the man Gray, or the remains of Gray, you feel that each of these characters has a longing and a fear of both.

Beautifully titled, these words "evolution of shadows" comes out of a sleepless night in the book. I love how that was weaved into the words.

Breathtaking and hard to put down, I pushed through the pages wanting to know the answers that each was seeking. What did happen to Gray? Would they ever know? What would they find? What if he is alive, how will they all react? What if they find what they fear the most?

For these answers - you will find not from me..... but from this book.

In 1995 in Sarajevo, American photographer Gray Banick vanishes. Years later, his former Chinese-American lover Lian Zhao receives a letter from Gray's interpreter Emil Todorovic who worked for the missing photographer asking about him.

Although she married someone more acceptable to her parents, Lian always loved Gray. She leaves Kansas City for Serbia hoping to locate him. In Sarajevo she meets Gray's mentor Jack MacKenzie whose family finally gave up on him when he spent more time in hot spots than at home and Emil. The three begin a quest to learn what happened to Gray.

THE EVOLUTION OF SHADOWS is a strong war drama that makes the case that those who see the horrors of combat even non fighters like reporters need bonds of friendship to emotionally survive; the US Army affirms this premise with buddies being a key element to prevent suicide amidst the troops. Each of the key cast members feel genuine even the missing Gray who is seen mostly though the flashbacks of his compatriots. Jason Quinn Malott provides a powerful character driven tale that avoids turning nostalgic or maudlin.